Ridley "Store-and-Ignore Disaster Supply Box" - would you buy one?

[Dave Ridley]

Updated 11/8/08:

The Store n' Ignore Disaster Box is essensially a container full of items which

1) Have an indefinite shelf life
2) Would likely run low during the second week of a major disaster
3) Can easily be used or re-sold even if there *isn't* a disaster

The contents run the gamut from wheat berries to space blankets.  But the box is no cure-all; to be that it would require perishables.  This box focuses on being useful almost regardless of how long it sits there, regardless of whether there's a disaster.  It is a diversified store of value.   

I've spent some months scouring e-bay and discount stores for bargains.  So I can sell you the items at roughly the price *you* would pay if you spent hours finding and collecting them yourself.   However you should know before ordering that it takes me a while to put one of these together and get it to you at such low cost.  I cannot yet mail or deliver it.   You'll have to get it from me at a mutually attended New Hampshire event. 

Here is a video of the first box being put together:
NH: Ridley's "Store n' Ignore Disaster Boxes" for sale

Here is the manifest and price for that box:
http://nhunderground.com/forum/index.php?topic=12492.msg268813#msg268813

And here are the items usually available for placement in *your* box. 
http://nhunderground.com/forum/index.php?topic=12492.msg268816#msg268816

Gimme a shout if and when you would like to purchase one, tell me what your parameters are or just turn me loose to build one for you using my best judgment.

To buy a "Store n' Ignore Disaster Box," just gimme a shout.

Dave Ridley
RidleyReport
at live period com

Now...below this text is the original message which brought the idea under discussion.  If you have ideas for improvement...simply post a reply!

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12/07
<<<< I'd like input from you guys before I get too deep into this project...

I am thinking of designing and producing a low-cost disaster kit primarily for use *after* the first week of a catastrophe.   It would also be designed so that every item had an indefinite shelf life.   Its contents would be barter-friendly consumables you could make easy use of with or without an emergency, at a better price than you would usually find them at the store 

In other words, a safe microinvestment.

Here's a list of items I might include...but mainly I am wanting to know how much interest there is in something like this.   If interest is limited , I may not do much.   However if interest is high enough, that would give me an excuse to start collecting a lot more survival friendly stuff and turning this kit, or something similar, into reality. 

Chlorine Water treatment tabs  - plus printed instructions on how to use them, even in cloudy water.
http://www.lesliespool.com/jump.jsp?itemType=PRODUCT&itemID=9151&iMainCat=14&iSubCat=104&iProductID=9151&tabID=3   
There is apparently debate regarding the indefinite status of this item's shelf life. 
Alum - for de-clouding water and making it easier to treat with Chlorine.  I'm uncertain regarding the indefinite status of this item's shelf life. 
Ammo - Something the Red Cross and Wal Mart kits never get around to including...fortunately it is still legal to sell without bureaucratic obstacles.  Ammunition historically becomes a currency in protracted crises. 
Candles -
Laptop Friendly Disaster Survival Library - this is a keyword searchable disaster survival document on CD; compiled by me but written by the U.S. Army and the Red Cross.
Matches - Matches became a currency in Bosnia during the 1990s conflict.  To limit fire hazard issues, I could store them in sealed glass jars?
Sterno - good for cooking indoors without electricity
kleenex - ideally, I should leave you a room full, but this will have to do.
Lamp Oil - apparently odorless mineral spirits are better.  u get them at home depot.   
honey - will crystalize eventually but can be reclaimed by _____
salt - the world's ancient currency.   Became very valuable in central Bosnia during the war. 
Wheat - plus printed instructions on how to sprout it.    This will keep you eating veggies for another week or two.   
See thru trash bags - double as low-budget greenhouse device in the sun.  Useful for all kinds of things and rarely in plentiful supply.
Baggies
Tampons - barter friendly even if you don't use them.

Ideally the biggest advantage of buying these things in this disaster kit form, might be that they are actually cheaper to own that way.  I already know how to find things really cheap around here and I'm just getting started...  but my first step would be to find the lowest possible prices on items like these.

Your thoughts? >>>

[penguins4me]

Some of those items might be a wee bit tricky to tackle based on your potential customers (ammo being the biggie), and if possible, the value of the data CD, in my opinion, would be tremendously increased if it is formatted in a way to facilitate printing, since not everyone has a charged laptop ready at all times. I'm not certain about this, but some trashbags, I'm told, contain undesirable coatings or other characteristics which greatly reduce their utility in the realm of indefinite storage and storage of anything intended for human consumption.

As for my interest, personally, I already have pretty much everything on your current list, and I'm on the other side of the country. However, depending on what sort of packaging, customization, and shipping ideas and options are available, though, especially for the truly indefinite-storage items, I may well be interested in picking up a few for myself and others.

[porcupine kate]

Glad brand trash bags are food grade.  I don't know if they have clear plastic ones.

I would add coffee filters for water treatment.  They can remove some of the grit before you filter or treat  water. 
Iodine for water treatment.  It may have a longer shelf life to supplement the chlorine tablets. 
Thick warm socks
hand warmers 
candle wicks, the kind you can get at the craft store with the wire core.  You can use with any glass jar to make an oil lamp.  Also some wire to make a stand to support the candle wick.  Bill and I have done this and it works quite well.  Any vegetable oil will work in it. 
I would do a roll of toilet paper instead of kleenex. More tissue and you could squish it flat to reduce space. 
Baggies-I would do gallon sized freezer weight bags.
Maybe some Mountain House freeze dried food in pouches.  They last up to 7 years.  and just need water. 
I would also include directions and some supplies to sprout the wheat in the kit.

Dave if selling the kits doesn't draw enough interest to make it worth your while I would love to start a "co-op" style buying plan. One person finds a deal on a good supply of something useful and lets other people pitch in and divide the goods.  This way we have a pool of people looking for stuff and we can take advantage of bulk purchasing.  Also it isn't the same person ordering stuff and having it shipped. Members could join by organizing a purchase of an item.  Toowm did this with a silver purchase and I loved it.

[Puke]

Um, I posted on this thread somewhere already...maybe another forum...I'm lost. 


Anyway, I would be interested in such a kit. A self powered/hand-crank weather radio would be nice.
What about winter car kits for new folks?

[porcupine kate]

No you are not lost.  Dada posted this in Porcupine trading also.

http://newhampshireunderground.com/forum/index.php?topic=12491.0

[Puke]

No you are not lost.  Dada posted this in Porcupine trading also.

Oh good, I'm not crazy after all. 

[error]

Somebody want to merge these?

[Kat Kanning]

No you are not lost.  Dada posted this in Porcupine trading also.

Oh good, I'm not crazy after all. 

That doesn't necessarily follow 

[Pat K]

These kits are incomplete , there no Beer in them.

[Puke]

These kits are incomplete , there no Beer in them.

The comes with malt, hops, and yeast. Some assembly required.

[Dave Ridley]

in terms of bang for the buck, what are some of the best survival manuals to be included with a kit?

My top candidate right now is the  U.S. army survival manual, FM 21-76 
The runner up would be one of the Tom Brown books - i'm calling them runners-up mainly because they seem to be 60 percent more expensive than the Army manual.

what do you think are good books for this purpose?   

Probably what would happen is I would end up with various different books and no one book would be in every kit.

Ideally I would find these kinds of books lying around at some garage sale but more likely I"d have to order on ebay.

[Eli]

I'd be interested. Alum also has a number of other uses, in tanning, fire proofing, other things I can't remember that I learned from the "Dangerous Book for Boys"

[Becky Thatcher]

I'd be interested. Alum also has a number of other uses, in tanning, fire proofing, other things I can't remember that I learned from the "Dangerous Book for Boys"

I love that book!! My brother bought a copy for my son and he is always telling me things that he learned from the Dangerous Book for Boys!  What a treasure trove of information.

[Pat McCotter]

Don't forget "The Daring Book for Girls."

[Kat Kanning]

Don't forget "The Daring Book for Girls."

I was just trying to learn to whistle with two fingers from that book, but couldn't quite get it.